Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar were the most prominent candidates for the Democratic nomination to drop out of the race recently, but more contestants have called it quits. Billionaire Tom Steyer and former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick have also buried their campaign dreams. The New York Times now only counts 5 major candidates for the Democratic nomination.
Unlike with earlier dropouts, Steyer, Klobuchar and Buttigieg had continued to qualify for the DNC debates (seven candidates had qualified for the tenth DNC debate in South Carolina, on Feb 25) and, in the case of Buttigieg, had even collected a good number of delegates. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) on the other hand is continuing her run despite having left the debate stage in November and not having had any success in early primary states. She was expected to win a delegate on Super Tuesday, which would have been enough to qualify for debates nine and ten. For the upcoming eleventh debate in Phoenix, Ariz., on March 15, the DNC has yet to release qualification criteria, but with Super Tuesday come and gone, those might once again be out of Gabbard's reach.
On the Republican side of things, there is only one noteworthy candidate challenging President Donald Trump left. Former governor of Massachusetts, William Weld, is the challenger with the backing of the Libertarian National Committee. Former Republican congressman and 2010 tea party supporter Joe Walsh, who entered the race in August, has also dropped out after a poor finish in the Iowa caucus. Trump filed for a 2020 run on Jan 20, 2017, the day of his inauguration, according to the Federal Election Commission.
